With Los Angeles on the verge of becoming the nation's largest city to ban single-use bags at supermarkets and convenience stores, the plastics industry is beginning to fight back.

With a series of radio and television commercials along with a website (www.bagtheban.com) the American Progressive Bag Alliance also is lobbying city lawmakers to try to head off the plans to outlaw use of the bags.

"We are engaging in the process of dialogue on lots of different fronts," said Donna Dempsey, spokeswoman for the alliance. "Each city is different, each municipality is unique and we are trying to design our message for Los Angeles."

And it apparently is beginning to work.

In the radio commercial, the announcer said: "At some point we need to draw the line on crazy laws... Tell the politicians to get a grip."

Reina Pereira, senior environmental engineer for the city, said she received an angry telephone call asking why the city was dealing with such an issue when it was facing more serious problems.

Pereira said when she gets in touch with the caller, she will say the ban is an attempt by the city to reduce litter.

"We believe you have to start somewhere," Pereira said. "Education is part of what we do in (the Bureau of) Sanitation."

Dempsey said that is also what her association is attempting to do.

"We are trying to get out our message that these bans don't really do much," Dempsey said. "San Francisco did a survey and found that 0.6 percent of its litter was from plastics. After they had a ban, plastics accounted for 0.64 percent of their litter. It made no difference.

"What we are saying is there is no real benefit."

The alliance represents 30,800 plastic manufacturing jobs that will be affected by the ban, Dempsey said, including about 1,900 in the Los Angeles area.

A City Council vote on the bag ban is expected in May.

Councilman Paul Koretz, who has been the leading voice on the council for the ban, said he has received few complaints over the proposal and more encouragement from residents and neighborhood associations.

"The main argument they are making is over jobs and we think there are comparatively few jobs lost with this," Koretz said. "And in fact there is a group working with vets who are making the more permanent bags and we think that will more than make up the job loss."

However, even some in the reusable bag manufacturing business have concerns with the city of L.A. proposal.

In fact, plastic bags are among the raw materials that are recycled to make reusable bags, according to a local manufacturer.

"We don't believe that anything should be banned, especially if it's a product like plastic that can be recycled," said Erin Grande, environmental programs director for Command Packaging, a Vernon company that makes reusable bags.

The company's "True reUSAble Bags" are made from recycled plastic from single-use grocery bags, shrink wrap and plastic wrappers.

The bags are currently provided to Gelson's stores in Calabasas, which already bans single-use plastic bags, and Pasadena, which will start a ban on July 1.

If the city of Los Angeles adopts a similar ban, the company would supply eight more Gelson's with reusable bags. Grande, however, is concerned the ban would backfire.

"The thing about the ban is that a lot of consumers have a hard time differentiating among the various types of plastic bags so when they hear about a ban, it has a negative connotation on our products as well," she said.

"Unfortunately, there is this false idea that plastic cannot be recycled but, in fact, we're doing it every day in our facility in Vernon."

Grande worries the push for reusable bags will create a new environmental problem. She noted many reusable bags are made with polypropylene, which resembles fabric and which is not currently recyclable in the U.S. Some countries have already banned the material.

"After a consumer has used it a few times, then throws it away, it goes to a landfill, just like single-use plastic bags," Grande said.

Koretz disputed the argument the ban will have little real effect on the environment.

"Just intuitively, it is wrong," Koretz said. "It's hard to believe you would have a total ban and such a little impact on litter."

While the exact timing is being worked out, the plan now calls for a six-month education program to phase out the plastic bags followed by a complete ban within six months. At first stores will be allowed to charge 10 cents per paper bag, money they can retain to cover their costs. One or two years later, all single-use bags - paper and plastic - will be banned.

Pereira said she is confident the public will accept the policy and begin using recyclable bags.

"There are 43 cities (in the country) that have adopted a plastic bag ban policy," Pereira said. "We are seeing between 94 and 98 percent reduction in bag use. We are saying 100 percent can be achieved."

Even if it is only a small amount of the litter waste stream, Pereira said officials believe it is worth it.

"We are saying we won't solve the litter problem unless we take one step at a time," she said. "We believe you have to start somewhere."